FIRE 20/20 in Action

12-13-11 --  

 

 

Recruiting and Retaining Diversity Workshop

 

FIRE 20/20 is thankful to all the departments who support inclusivity and diversity in the fire service.

 

We've now trained 109 departments in the U.S. and Canada in our Recruiting & Retaining Diversity in The Fire Service Workshop. We have booked all six workshops for 2012; Anaheim, CA (February 2-3), Montgomery County, MD (March 29-30), Indiana (April 12-13), Hartford, CT (May 17-18), Richmond, VA (June 14-15) and Toronto, ON (September 13-14).

 

On Thursday, Friday 2, 2011 and Friday, February 3, 2011. This workshop is located in the City of Anaheim, Anaheim West Tower, 201 South Anaheim Blvd. 2nd Floor, Gordon Hoyt Conference Center, from 8:00 - 4:00pm. Please contact Breana Gattari at BGattari@anaheim.net to attend the FREE two-day workshop.

 

We look forward to working with the departments in the areas will be visiting. If you would like to participate in the workshops, please let us know and we will provide you with the contact information.

 

 

Partnering for Prevention with Renton Fire Department

 

The 2010 Census identified Renton as the second most diverse community in the state of Washington. Renton Fire & Emergency Services (RF&ES) leadership realized that in order to grow the department's risk-reduction efforts, they needed to do a better job of proactively engaging all of their multicultural communities. Over the last six months, RF&ES has partnered with nonprofit FIRE 20/20 as a demonstration site in the development of a national online training program called Partnering for Prevention. The program is funded by a 2010 FEMA Fire Prevention and Safety Grant.

 

Through the process, the Renton Fire Chief engaged in 13 Leader-to-Leader meetings with multicultural community leaders to better understand their needs and build trust. Three fire department focus groups (two with rank and file, and one with management and labor) were held. These identified challenges and successes from the fire department's perspective. It should be noted that Renton no longer has a fire educator position, so the responsibility for outreach lies with all of the firefighters, inspectors and management.

 

FIRE 20/20 worked with RF&ES to facilitate 11 community focus groups and meetings to gather more information about needs, to better understand Renton community's knowledge of RF&ES, to build trust and to begin identifying partnering opportunities. Every one of the community focus groups expressed strong interest in working more closely with RF&ES and offered to assist (at no charge) with translation of materials, to help to promote programs such as Heart Healthy Month in their respective communities, to identify locations, and to sit with firefighters to show support and engage people in the testing. RF&ES will also use this opportunity to educate the community about the services of the department, and to installation and correct use of promote smoke alarms.

 

 

COMING 2012! Partnering for Prevention Research Study

 

In 2011, FIRE 20/20 has implemented the largest multicultural prevention research study in the country to gather and present data from a full national compliment of fire and emergency services departments across the U.S.

 

This study examines:

 

* Multicultural and high-risk populations served

 

* Challenges firefighters experience in providing services to multicultural and high-risk communities

 

* Firefighters needs that would help improve the effectiveness of fire prevention and risk-reduction programs within multicultural and high-risk communities

 

The total number of respondents to the survey was 2,474 from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Firefighters and EMS personnel indicated online the type of department in which they worked; members of Volunteer only departments, members of Combination departments with both career and volunteer personnel, members of Career only departments, members of Metro departments with 400 or more personnel, and State Fire Marshals.

 

We will be releasing the study in 2012.

 

 

Tony Pini Awards

 

The morning of Aug 25, 2011 a new award was birthed at FRI. For the first time in 200 years, the fire service acknowledged and celebrated the first Diversity & Inclusion Awards. The Tony Pini Awards were made possible through a partnership that included iWomen, IABPFF, NAHF, NVFC, VCOS, NNAFC, and IAFC Human Relations Committee. The awards were made possible through sponsorships from SCOTT Safety, LION, IAFC and FIRE 20/20. It was a memorable moment for FIRE 20/20 and for everyone who attended.

 

In this inaugural year we received 40 nominations. Congratulations to our 2011 winners: Portsmouth, VA; Toronto, ON; Bainbridge Island, WA; and Fire Service Women of NY State.

 

We look forward to the 2nd Annual Tony Pini Awards in 2012.

 

 

 

 

Webinars by FIRE 20/20

 

This year FIRE 20/20 presented two webinars for the State of Indiana. Both webinars with Larry's narration are still available online until January 2012. Please click on the links below. Your email address and name will be required to access the webinars.

 

Engaging Multicultural and High Risk Communities: A Budget Cut's Strategy https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/249807825

 

With continued budget cuts to all aspects of fire and emergency services, departments that engage their multicultural and high risk communities as partners will be able to increase the reach and effectiveness of fire prevention, risk-reduction, emergency preparedness and diversity recruitment, as well as build financial and moral support for their department.

 

Cost-Effective Strategies for Recruiting Qualified, Inclusive and Diverse Firefighters  https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/844928417

 

Are you concerned about recruiting and retaining the next generation of firefighters? Can you afford a diversity related lawsuit? Have you been successful in recruiting qualified, women and people of color? Do you have a diversity recruitment and retention plan? If you answered 'no' to any of the above questions, please take the time to watch this webinar. The program is valuable for career, combo and volunteer departments.

 

Posted by: Fire 20/20   Tags: Article, cultural competencies, Diversity, FIRE 20/20, inclusion, Partnering for Prevention, recruitment, retention, Tony Pini Awards, Webinars, workshop   Categories: Article, FIRE 20/20